BANGKOK — Immigration officials, while inspecting foreign nationals illegally working in Bangkok’s nighttime tourist areas, discovered a Turkish national with a tourist visa selling popular Turkish ice cream.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Suriya Phuangsombat, Deputy Superintendent of Investigation Division, Immigration Bureau 1, along with his team and Chana Songkhram Police Station officers, surveyed nightlife venues on Rambuttri Road and Khao San Road in the early hours of May 21. The operation, ordered by Police Lieutenant General Phanumas Boonyalak, Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, targeted locations likely to have illegal workers.
The inspection resulted in the arrest of eight foreign males – seven Myanmar nationals selling goods on the street or in front of establishments, mostly restaurants selling roti, kebabs, ice cream, and fruit juice. Four of them could not produce passports and are believed to have illegally entered the kingdom to work.
Officials also arrested Mr. Muhamet, a 27-year-old Turkish national operating an ice cream stall with the distinctive Turkish-style serving performance that attracted tourists. Investigations revealed he entered Thailand on a tourist visa without a work permit.
When questioned, his Thai employer stated they paid him 50,000 baht monthly. Muhamet reported earning approximately 2,000-3,000 baht daily and had been working for about a month.
Muhamet was detained along with the seven Myanmar nationals and taken to Chana Songkhram Police Station. All were charged with being foreigners working without a work permit or performing work beyond their legal rights.
The four Myanmar nationals who illegally entered the country face additional charges of being foreigners entering and staying in the kingdom illegally or without passing through authorized checkpoints. Those with expired visas were charged with being foreigners remaining in the kingdom after their permission had expired.
Officials are still investigating to take legal action against the Turkish man’s employer, as well as determining whether the group of Myanmar nationals were hired by the same employer to sell goods in a similar manner.
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